Letter from the President

A Message from 2016-17 President Chris Astrella WCPC

Happy after the Election! Election Day is one of my favorite days of the year, but it’s nice not seeing any political ads or getting phone calls from candidates asking me to vote for them. Finally we can focus on completing this election (and getting ready for the next one!). I want to congratulate all of you on a job well done. All the hard work and training we went through paid off because I heard virtually no complaints from voters, friends of mine and from the media.

Speaking of the media, I was interviewed by a few outlets and was impressed with the cooperation and credibility they granted me during my times chatting with them. Additionally, I found out some of you were representing us (by being interviewed) through either TV, print or radio and you did an amazing job. It truly was an experience I will never forget, being the association’s President in a Presidential Election Year, but I’m happy it’s over and we can get on with the rest of our lives.

As far as the Association is going, the Board of Directors had its first meeting towards the end of October and we Elected 2 Directors at Large, passed the budget, and we started the process for finding a new website vendor. We had a busy meeting but got a lot of work done in about 5 hours. I want to recognize WMCA Treasurer Brenda Ayers, Finance Committee Chair Kathy Kasza and the rest of the Finance Committee for putting together a stellar budget. We had a great discussion about many line items at the Finance Committee meeting and that discussion continued at the Board meeting as well. Well done ladies.

Our next board meeting will be December 2 in the Village of Kronenwetter. I’m looking forward to discovering a different part of the state, continuing the work of running the association and closing out an outstanding 2016 for WMCA.
Finally, the 2017 Conference Committee will be holding its first formal meeting on Thursday November 17th in the Dells. We’ll be taking a tour of the Kalahari and starting the process of planning the best conference we’ve ever had! If you have any suggestions for next year’s conference; please get them to me soon!

I hope each of you has a great Thanksgiving with your family, friends, yummy food and football (of course!). Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it’s about what’s important in life: being with the ones you love, having a good time and eating the best food of the year. This year for Thanksgiving I’m especially thankful for being your President and the trust you’ve placed in me to do a great job. Happy Thanksgiving and On Wisconsin!